Machines for folding paper sheets



Aug. 23, 1960- D. S/BERRY MACHINES FOR FOLDING PAPER SHEETS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed 001;. 22, 1957 I nvenlor By /W A Home y Aug. 23, 1960 D.- s. BERRY MACHINES FOR FOLDINGPAPER SHEETS Filed Oct 22, 1957 s Sheets-Sheei '2 E mm \m QM l RN NM an? Q Q Dab A I Inventor QM N Attorney 1960 I D. s. BERRY 2,950,105

MACHINES FOR FOLDING PAPER SHEETS 5 Sheets- Sheet 5 ,Da/wuo 5. B Y

I nventor WOW Attorney Aug. 23, 1960 I D, BERRY v 2,950,105

MACHINES FOR FOLDING PAPER SHEETS Filed Oct. 22, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 DOA/ALD 5. 5

U Inventor Attorney Aug. 23, 1960 D. s. BERRY 2,950,105

MACHINES FOR FOLDING PAPER SHEETS Filed Oct. 22, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet s OPENING STRIPPER GRIPPER PATH OF BOOK BACK SQUARING DELIVERY CYLINDER ROLLING ACTION ROLLERS RISING MAIN CYLINDER INVEN TOR. Dona/a J. B err B Y ATTORNEYS MACHINES FOR FOLDING PAPER SHEETS Donald S. Berry, Watford, England, assignor to Sun Printers Limited, Watford, England, a British company Filed Oct. 22, 1957, Ser. No. 691,723

12 Claims. (Cl. 270-72) This invention relates to the production of multi-page printed publications such as magazines and catalogues (hereinafter referred to as books) in which after printing, the pages are severed from the printed web, assembled, secured together and folded to form the completed book by a single machine known as a rotary folder.

In performing the last of these operations the difiiculty has been experienced that the folding of a multipage book is liable to bend the paper without creasing it with the result that the books cannot be properly stacked, nor subjected to processing in subsequent machines such as guillotines or trimmers, without manipulation to remove the springiness from the spine of the book.

The object of the present invention is to provide improved means for overcoming the disadvantage referred to in the preceding paragraph and to ensure that the fold along the back of each book is such as to enable all the pages to lie completely flat after delivery from the machine.

According to the invention a rotary folding machine for transforming printed webs into separate books includes a cylinder embodying a gripper blade for effecting the fold and additional means for engaging and exerting pressure upon the back of the fold to ensure that the pages permanently retain their complete folded condition.

One embodiment of the invention will be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a view, partly in section and with parts broken away, of the cylinder taken along the line I-I of Fig. 2;

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken along the line II--II of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a detail view looking in the direction of the arrow III in Fig. 2;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the cylinder with the anvil, against which the book is pressed by the gripperblade and the cams, for actuating the gripper blades and the additional folding means, removed;

Figure 5 is an end view of the cylinder, with the cams for actuating the additional folding means removed, looking in the direction of the arrow V in Figure 2;

Figure 6 is an end view of the cylinder, with the cam for actuating the gripper blade removed, looking in the direction of the arrow VI in Fig. 2; and

Figure 7 is a view showing, in diagrammatic form, the passage of the book from the main cylinder round the back squaring cylinder until it is removed by the stripper.

The cylinder 1, rotatable in the direction of the arrow A in Fig. 1, provided with two recesses 2 in its periphery, extending almost the length of the cylinder, into each of which the mid-portion of an assembly of printed sheets (not shown), is forced and engaged by a gripper blade 3, extending the length of the recess, to press it against an anvil 4 to fold the sheets to normal page sizes. It will be noted that the mechanism in connection with each recess is identical and it will therefore be understood that the following description directed to one set of mechanism is also applicable to its twin on the opposite side of the cylinder axis.

tes Patent 2,950,105 Patented Aug. 23, 1960.

* ice When the cam roller reaches the dwell-portion a of The gripper blade 3' is secured by bolts 6, to a shaft 5 V i the cam 8 it is urged into engagement with it by the spring 9 thus rotating the shaft 5 in the clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 6 to bring the gripper blade 3 into the engaged position and so fold the inserted sheets to normal page size. To render this folding. complete and permanent the delivery cylinder 1 is additionally provided with the mechanism next to be described.

Adjacent the gripper blade 3 is disposed a series of discs. or rollers 11 carried by spindles 12 freely rotatable in a common supporting bar 13. In the normal position of the discs 11 their peripheries are just clear of the fold of an inserted assembly of sheets after it has been forced into the recess 2 to be engaged by the gripper blade 3.

The supporting bar 13 is itself supported by a member 15 secured at its lower end to a block 17 slidable axially of the cylinder in a guide 18 having secured thereto a cover 19 apertured to allow passage of the member 15. The member 15 is secured at its upper end to a member 16 fastened at one end to the end of a sleeve 14 slidable upon a rod 20, secured at 20a to the end of the cylinder, against the action of a spring 21. The other end of the member 16 is connected by a link 22. to a plunger 23 slidable in a sleeve 24, and carrying at its outer end a roller 25 in contact with a fixed annular cam 26 the profile 27 of which is such that once during each revolution of the cylinder 1 a stroke equal in extent'to at least the pitch of the discs 11 is imparted to the roller carrying bar 13. The resistance of the spring 21 maintains the roller in contact with the cam surface. As may be seen from Fig. 3 the plunger 23 and with it the roller carrying bar 13 may be locked in their right-hand end position by means of a locking pin 28 passing through corresponding apertures 29 and 30 in the sleeve 24 and plunger 23 respectively.

The roller carrying bar 13, member 15, block 17, and guide 18 are arranged for movement as a unit in a direction parallel. to a radius of the cylinder 1 between radial guides 31 carried by a member 32 secured to the shaft 33 of the cylinder 1. For this purpose the guide 18 is provided with rack teeth 134 engaged by a pinion 35, the shaft 36 of which carries a roller 37 which lies in contact with a stationary cam 38, the profile of which is indicated in chain lines at 39 in Fig. 5. As the cylinder 1 rotates, the variations in the surface of the cam 38 are communicated through the. cam roller 37 andv pinion 35 to the discs 11 which are thereby caused to rise and fall once during each revolution of the cylinder. The cam-roller 37 is maintained in contact with the periphery of the cam 38 by the action of a spring 40 which urges it into the dwell portion 41 of the cam profile 39 thus rotating the shaft 36 in the anti-clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 5 to operate the rack and pinion '34-, 35 and raise the discs 11 into pressing engagement with the fold of the book. Retraction of the discs 11 is caused by the lift of the cam 38, while the pressure exerted by the discs 11 on the book is due to the spring 40, thus allowing the discs to take up a position determined by the pressure and flexibility and position of the folded book. Direct retraction by the cam 38 also avoids a return spring which would have to carry centrifugal loading due to the weight of the mechanism.

The folding operation is initiated by pushing. the folded portion of a book into the recess 2 in the cylinder 1. The back of the book thus formed is then engaged and held by the gripper blade against the anvil 4 whilst the discs 11 are moved outwardly into pressing engagement with the book and along the fold to such an extent that the whole length of the book has-been submitted to the pressing operation. By this operation the discs 11 are caused to make rotational movements during which their peripheries are pressed into contact with the back of the book. At the completion of these movements the gripperblade is rotated out of engagement with the completed book which then passes onto a delivery table (not shown). It will be understood that in order to ensure that the operation takes place over the entire length of the book the lift of the cam 26 should be equal to at least the pitch of one disc 11.

, As shown in the drawings the cylinder is provided with two recesses 2 and two identical .sets of folding mechanism rotating with the cylinder and actuated by the stationary cams 8, 26 and 38.

The effect of the operations above described is to change the character of the fold at the back of the book. Hitherto, the operation of the gripper blade alone has served merely to produce a fold which is rounded in cross section with the result that the pages tend to spring them apart when released from the gripper blade, this tendency increasing with the stiffness of the paper ernployed and with an increase in the number of pages. By the operation of the series of discs 11 according to the present invention, the surfaces of the discs are forced under pressure, produced by the spring 40 through the pinion and rack mechanism 34, 35, against the .back of the book causing it to become flattened and formed into a cross-sectional shape wherein the pages and the back form two right angles. Two creases are thus formed which serve to retain the book in its flattened condition and with its appearance greatly enhanced, thus enabling a number of books to be stacked without difiiculty or damage.

I claim:

1. A rotary folding machine for use in transforming printed webs into separate books, comprising a cylinder having a longitudinal recess in the periphery thereof to accommodate the mid-portion of an assembly of printed sheets, a gripper blade rotatably mounted in said cylinder and extending into said recess, means for rotating said gripper blade into engagement with the mid-portion of said sheets to press it against the wall of said recess and form a fold and additional means movable radially of said cylinder for engaging and exerting pressure upon the back of the fold formed by the gripper blade, while the sheets are engaged by the gripper blade, to render the folding complete and permanent.

2. A rotary folding machine for use in transforming printed webs into separate books, comprising a cylinder having a longitudinal recess in the periphery thereof to accommodate the mid-portion of an assembly of printed sheets, a gripper blade rotatably mounted in said cylinder and extending into said recess, means for rotating said gripper blade into engagement with the mid-portion of said sheets to press it against the wall of said recess and form a fold and means for engaging and exterting pressure upon the back of the fold formed by the gripper blade, while the sheets are engaged by the gripper blade, to render the folding complete and permanent, said means for engaging and exerting pressure upon the back of the fold comprising a device mounted in said cylinder radially inward of said recess, and extending parallel thereto, and mechanism for intermittently reciprocating said device radially of said cylinder between (a) a position adjacent the back of the fold formed by said gripper blade and (b) a position in which it exerts uniform pressure upon the back of the fold, along the entire length thereof.

3. A rotary folding machine according to claim 2, in which said device comprises a longitudinal series of foldengaging discs freely rotatable about axes tangential to the cylinder axis and mechanism for reciprocating it longitudinally of said cylinder to ensure the application of uniform pressure by the rollers along the entire length of the fold. a a

4. A rotary folding machine according toclaim 3, in which said discs are rotatably mounted in a supporting bar reciprocable longitudinally of said cylinder.

5. A rotary folding machine according to claim 4, in which said supporting bar is slidably mounted in a longitudinal guide which in turn is reciprocable radially of the cyllnder by mechanism comprising a radially extending rack on said guide meshing with a pinion fixed upon a rotatable shaft carrying a cam follower which is is maintained in contact with a stationary cam by a spring.

6. A rotary folding machine according to claim 5, in which said spring acts through said rack and pinion upon said fold-engaging device and opposes radial movement of said device away from the fold.

7. A rotary folding machine according to claim 4, in which said supporting bar is connected to one end of a plunger slidable in a longitudinal sleeve in the cylinder and carrying at its end, remote from the bar, a cam follower maintained in contact with a stationary annular cam by a return spring.

8. A rotary folding machine according to claim 7, in

which said discs are spaced from each other by a distance no greater than the lift of the annular cam. 9. A rotary folding machine according to claim 7, n which said supporting bar is capable of being locked m position by a pin passing through registering apertures in the plunger and sleeve.

10. A rotary folding machine for use in transforming printed webs into separate books comprising a cylinder, means for rotating said cylinder, said cylinder having a longitudinal recess in the periphery thereof to accommodate the rnid-portion of an assembly of printed sheets, a gripper blade rotatably mounted in said cylinder and extending into said recess, means for rotating said gripper blade into engagement with the mid-portion of said sheets to press it against the wall of said recess and form a fold, a longitudinal series of discs rotatably mounted in a common supporting bar which is slidable in a longitudinal guide in the cylinder, means controlled by a first stationary cam for reciprocating said guide radially of the cylinderv to bring said discs into and out of pressing engagement with the back of the fold formed by the gripper blade while the mid-portion of said sheets is engaged by said blade, and means controlled by a second stationary cam for reciprocating the supporting bar in said guide to ensure that the back of said fold is subjected to uniform pressure by the discs along its entire length.

11. A rotary folding machine according to claim 10, in which said means for reciprocating the guide radially of the cylinder comprises a radially extending rack on said guide, meshing with a pinion fixed upon a rotatable shaft mounted in the cylinder and carrying a cam follower maintained in contact with said first stationary cam by a spring.

12. A rotary folding machine according to claim 10, in which said means for reciprocating the supporting bar in said guide comprises a plunger connected to one end of said supporting bar and slidable in a longitudinal sleeve, and a cam follower carried by said plunger, at its end remote from the supporting bar, and maintained in contact with said second stationary cam by a return spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 955,367 Spalckhaver Apr. 19, 1910 2,335,431 Meyer Nov. 30, 1943 2,414,681 Whalen Jan. 21, 1947 2,435,881 Faeber Feb. 10, 1948 2,819,068 Loase Jan. 7, 1958 

